On New Paths
by Strength and Honor
Summary: Ten years after the war, everyone still meets up for the yearly vacation. But when a new substance is discovered, it triggers a sequence of events unimaginable by the likes of our friends. Watch the growth of corporations, the military, and the union. R
1. Discovery

On New Paths

An Avatar Fanfic

Disclaimer: The thoughts, actions, and views expressed in this publication do not reflect those of Nickelodeon or the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter One: Discovery

Ten years since the end of the war. Iroh had stepped in as Firelord while Zuko trained up for the stupefying boredom of the politics of the Fire Nation. He already regretted being born into nobility. Classes went on for eight months a year, seven days a week, ten hours a day. His four month vacation was well earned each year in his opinion.

Zuko wasn't the only person who appreciated time off. Suki had recently been put in a position on Kyoshi's council, which kept her busy during the legislative assembly time. She guessed that the only reason she had been put on the council was because of her tenure with the Avatar.

Sokka and Katara went back to the South Pole to find it utterly transformed. It seemed that the group that had left the North Pole had put work in to make the South look just as beautiful as the North.

Aang and Toph spent time traveling together. Aang because he figured that's what the Avatar had to do, and Toph because she didn't want to go back to her parents.

In spite of all this, they found a couple months each year to vacation together. This year they were exploring the mountains northwest of Omashu. Aang said it would be perfect for all of them. Since he spent so much time traveling around the world, nobody disagreed.

And so they set off on their yearly vacation, leaving the Fire Nation Palace (it made such a convenient meeting point) and heading towards the Earth Kingdom. Along the way, everyone was brought up to speed on what everyone had been up to.

Sokka and Suki were talking very animatedly. Aang was wondering when he would just move to Kyoshi and be with her. It was obvious enough for _him_ to see it.

Zuko talked with Katara about the changing political climate in the world. Ever since the war was over, businesses had been attempting to move in and exploit the resources in the Fire Nation, figuring that a country that had just lost a war would be at the disadvantage in a trade relationship. Zuko said his uncle had proven the companies wrong by flat-out rejecting every single proposal.

"Uncle said that he would not stand idly by and allow the Earth Kingdom to trample over us while the world heals and rebuilds. Therefore, he's rejected all the trade proposals. He thinks that if the internal economy recovers well, which it has been so far, then soon he'll be on equal footing with the companies as far as trade rights go," Zuko said.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to take at least one of them though? Find the most favorable one with the most return so you can show the world you're ready to do business with them again?" Suki asked.

"Not when they're all equally unfavorable. None of them offered return rates higher than twenty percent, which is ridiculous since it'd be our natural resources."

"How can they offer profit returns on resources leaving your nation at a rate of twenty percent? You should be getting at least fifty percent," Aang said.

"Something they call a war penalty. It doesn't help that Uncle was the general who laid siege to Ba Sing Se. But hopefully our economy will bounce back enough to the point where we can deal as equals," Zuko said.

"But what if it doesn't without outside help? Billions of marks1 didn't exactly flush into your economy after the war ended. Nobody was exactly willing to help out the Fire Nation," Katara said.

"Something will happen. It always does on this planet," Zuko said.

"As opposed to the five hundred other planets in our interstellar empire that have nothing going on right now," Sokka said with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. This was all well and good for them, but Sokka hated politics, and hated economics. Sure, science was good, but that was only because he reasoned everything out, strange as that was to believe. A labor intensive job was much more suited to his tastes.

"My point was that it's never quiet. There's always something going on," Zuko said with a strained voice.

Aang thought it best to break up the argument before it came to blows. So he showed them a new Airbending trick he'd made up at the Southern Air Temple. It utilized the same principle of the Scooter Ball, except it was used to send things to other people. When Aang made up the trick, he realized that there were more effective and less messy ways to do what it accomplished.

But he was bored.

Having shown them his new trick, they were coming up on the area that Aang picked as their vacation spot. It was truly stunning to look at. The mountains rose up out of the ocean, as if they were taunting the vast expanse of blue before them with their magnificent height. Their snowcapped peaks merely accented the natural beauty of the massive craggy things. Mountains were something everyone could appreciate.

Except, apparently, Zuko.

"You just can't stand nature, can you Zuko? Here we are, looking at one of the natural wonders of the world, and you're just a bitter old person, except you aren't old," Sokka said.

"No, a natural wonder of the world is the fact that I or your sister has not killed you yet. Or anyone for that matter," Zuko said.

"Hey, we're on vacation. Let's pretend we like each other," Aang said.

As they landed, Toph jumped off and starting praising the earth and all its…earthiness.

"Guess much doesn't change in ten years, huh Toph?" Aang asked.

"Can it Twinkles. What's say you and me do some sparring? Stretch out our legs," Toph said, getting up and walking to a flat piece of ground.

"Sure. Couldn't hurt to stay sharp," Aang said.

Fifteen minutes later, Aang had a feeling he knew the meaning of sharp. Toph had long since abandoned conventional attacks, and was now trying to deliver the hurt with showers of pointy rocks. Aang didn't know how much longer he could hold out.

"Come on Twinkles. You make this too easy!"

"Oh yeah? Try _this_ on for size!"

At the word this, Aang unleashed a massive earthquake, heading in Toph's direction. The idea behind this attack was to get her to move, or to make her vision fuzzy, or to do something big and manly. One of the three.

In fact, the end result was something no one expected.

A bunch of black goopy stuff. Raining everywhere. On everyone.

"What is this stuff?" Katara asked, looking blacker than coal.

"Who knows?" Suki said, trying to get enough stuff off of her to be able to see.

"It's kinda oily..." Sokka said.

"Maybe it's rock oil!" Aang said.

"No such thing you twerp. Rock's don't make oil," Zuko said.

"Well, maybe they do," Toph said, as she earthbended the hole closed. The black stuff was everywhere by now.

"What should we do with it?" Aang asked.

"Katara, why don't you waterbend it away?" Zuko asked.

"Right." But try as she might, Katara simply could not waterbend the substance away.

"What…what is it? If it's not water, and it's not polluted water, then what could it…?" Sokka stammered about.

"Maybe…Lemme me try Earthbending," Toph said.

"What? That's impossible! There's no way that came from the earth," Sokka said incredulously.

"It's worth a shot. It might give us a clue as to what it is," Katara said.

Toph just focused on trying to manipulate the substance. While she was able to get it up into the air, controlling it was a different story. While everyone looked on in awe as the foul substance lifted into the air, Toph concentrated on moving the liquid around. And then she realized what it was. Or rather, what it was made of.

"Guys…this stuff is like coal…kind of. It's been in the ground for so long that it became like earth…" Toph said, mesmerized at the fact that she was bending the substance.

"But what use is it? What can we do with it?" Suki asked.

"Why don't we bring it to the Mechanist? We can assemble some guys together from all the nations to have a look at it and see what can be done," Sokka said.

"Guess this means our vacation got cut short…" Aang said sadly.

"Don't worry Twinkle-Toes. We'll go on another one soon enough," Toph said.

"What if soon enough never comes?"

"Quit thinking all sad. Look on the bright side. We found some new stuff to check out," Sokka said.

"Oh, that reminds me. What should we call it?" Katara asked.

"How about…Oil…since it's oily…." Sokka said, his voice trailing off into his own stupidity.

"How about…petroleum," Zuko said.

"What's it mean?" Suki asked.

"It means rock oil. It's from an ancient language they've been teaching me back at the Palace," Zuko said.

"Petroleum…has a ring to it….it's nice," Toph said.

"Why do you guys listen to Hotpants and not to me?" Sokka asked.

"Because you're a blithering idiot," Zuko said.

Sokka fumed, but didn't speak again.

**One month later…**

"Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong, we present to you, kerosene. This chemical is a derivative of a plant based energy source known as petroleum. This marvel of a chemical can keep your house lit for ages without having to worry about replacing anything. Just stick a wick in and go. What's more, we've also found some other chemical derivatives. We haven't found a good use for them yet, but we believe with funding and proper research, plus market hype to get people excited, we can build up industry on this planet the likes of which we've never dreamed of.

The amount of money we are requesting is quite a lot. But not so much as to bankrupt you. We simply need startup funds to set up a large scale refinery, and money to hire surveyors to find more deposits. The pool that Aang discovered dried up after multiple taps were made into it, and with a bit of environmental mismanagement.

What we are proposing will change the world. Imagine lamps lit day and night without having to light them constantly. Imagine cities heated throughout the cold winter months. Imagine…anything," the Mechanist said. He'd practiced his speech a thousand times on the way to Gaoling. He'd never imagined the response he got.

"You have our full backing. As of right now, the Bei Fong Oil Company is founded. We will begin hiring surveyors to find more wells of this new substance of yours. The only thing I require of you, 

Mechanist, is to keep this under wraps. I want full market control of this new commodity," Lao Bei Fong said.

"Yes sir. I completely understand," the Mechanist said. He bowed, and exited the room.

Lao motioned for an assistant to come over.

"We'll need laborers, pipefitters, plumbers, welders, construction workers, iron workers…we'll need everyone," Lao said.

"Yes sir," the aide said.

"Keep it as quiet as possible. We'll deceive all the other companies for as long as we can. Until we can guarantee full control of this resource, we'll pretend it's just another massive construction project…what would require a lot of workers of all different walks of life?" Lao asked.

"Theme park?"

"That…might actually work. Let's get a team of surveyors together before we do anything however," Lao said.

"Where do you suggest they start looking, sir?"

"Something tells me stuff like this would tend to accumulate in large deposits. Consider what the Avatar found an exploratory well. Have them search in the area around there."

"Yes sir," and with that the aide left.

Lao had a feeling that this was going to be big. It could even be bigger than the war.

**Five months later…**

Lao opened up the Gaoling Star, the local rag, to find just the headline he was looking for.

"ONE TRILLION BARREL DEPOSIT OF NEW SUBSTANCE CALLED PETROLEUM DISCOVERED"

"And so a new era begins…" Lao said.


	2. Crafty

On New Paths

Chapter Two: Crafty

A/N: Due to events in Sozin's Comet, this story is officially AU

"Gentleman, you have been assembled here today to partake in the largest construction project since the building of Ba Sing Se. Your tasks will include building shelters, pumps, and assembling derricks to transport the new substance called petroleum into the refineries near Omashu. There they will be refined into heating oil and kerosene and shipped to all major cities in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. There are skilled Benders and non-Benders here, but all will play a vital role. We have the most skilled carpenters, welders, pipefitters, engineers, and operators in the world on this job site. Our target time is five months to get the job site assembled, six months until we start drilling, eight months until the first shipment of heating oil and kerosene get sent out.

It's ambitious, but we have the finest workers in the world here. Let's get the job done right gentlemen," Lao said in the speech right before the work started. He then turned and walked back into the gargantuan BFOC building on site.

"You know sir, perhaps it's not the greatest idea to start with such an idealistic speech when we haven't set up any safety protocols," Lao's advisor said as they walked in.

"Why set up safety when we have a million people waiting to work on this project? If someone dies, we just hush it up and replace him. No one will ever know," Lao said.

Just then, Aang and Toph walked through the doors to the office they were in. Both had recently just gotten done with a surveying expedition around the North Pole.

"How was it in the lands of the Northern Tribe?" Lao asked.

"Freezing. But we did find a couple medium sized deposits. Our estimates were anywhere from 50 to 60 billion barrels," Aang said.

"Yeah, plus the area surrounding the pools almost never freezes up solid, so we can have the Mechanist finalize his plans for a floating oil rig and be drilling by next year," Toph said as she moved towards an empty chair.

"Work starts today?" Aang asked.

"Yes. I just gave the workers a little pep rally speech when you two showed back up," Lao said. Back in the days just after the war, Lao had been extremely suspicious of the Avatar. But after he had convinced him that Toph had come of her own free will, he had warmed slightly to the Airbender. However, it wasn't until, along with his daughter, he had found the trillion barrel deposit they were about to start drilling on that Lao had entirely forgiven him. Business could be a powerful thing.

"Let's hope nothing goes wrong. Hey, doesn't Sokka show up soon for work?" Aang asked.

"Yes, I do remember his application as a laborer. Seems to me that he only signed up as that since he couldn't do any other skilled positions," Lao said.

"He's a hard worker. He'll fit right in," Aang said.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, you got anything to eat around here Dad? I'm starving. All we've had for the last three months was sea prunes," Toph said.

"Of course. I'll have some pasta and steamed vegetables brought up here at once," Lao said. It was weird, to say the least, to have both the Avatar and his daughter in his employment. But that was just the way it had worked out. Due to her teaching her style of Earthbending to Aang, he could "see" distortions underneath the surface just like her when he blindfolded himself. This proved to be invaluable, as they could cover twice as much area on surveying expeditions since they could almost immediately find the bigger pools when they looked.

All of this meant money saved, and money saved meant more money in Lao's account.

"So how many workers are on this job?" Aang asked.

"Almost twenty thousand. It's a big job. We've got to get the rigs up, get everything welded and erected, and then we have to get the pipe laid down to the refineries outside of Omashu, and then we have to have our best Earthbenders bend us up a road to transport the fuels. I just wish the Mechanist could invent us up something faster to transport the heating oil and kerosene. And I wish he could find a use for some of the other fuels he discovered during the refining process," Lao said.

"He said he was working on a steam powered generator, so it's a step in the right direction. But you're right. We do need to find something that will transport everything quicker. Because once this goes into demand, then we'll be in deep shit if we can't keep up with it," Aang said.

"You've been hanging around those pipefitters too much Twinkles. Their language is starting to rub off on you," Toph said over in the corner.

"Hey, when's the work starting?" Aang asked, seeing there was not any activity going on outside.

"They have to go over the schedule of events first. Most of the men here today won't start their work until next week at the earliest. I shudder to think how long this would take without benders," Lao said.

"One week? Don't you think that's a little too fast?" Aang asked.

"Nonsense. Two crews work sixteen hour shifts. One group starts at twelve in the morning, and continues until four in the afternoon. The other crew will start work at twelve noon, and finish at four in the morning. There's two four hour periods of overlap. It works perfectly. Round the clock construction," Lao said.

"That seems a little extreme. Why not wait until the Mechanist has a few more things invented until we push forward with heavy development?" Aang asked.

"I want to get the kerosene shipping to Ba Sing Se, along with the heating oil to the northern most provinces in the Kingdom by the end of the year. The only way to do that is to get production started as soon as possible. There are four hundred derricks to set up at this point in time. We have to move fast to meet demands," Lao said.

"Why does it have to be set up so quickly? It seems to me that the people should give us more time to develop this. If it's worth all this trouble, surely it's worth waiting a while. The monks always taught that anticipation of something was often far greater than the feeling you had once you had what you desired. I'm worried that we're going to spend all this money, put all this work in, and then see everything fall apart," Aang explained.

"Ah, but the Mechanist assures me he will find many uses for petroleum as soon as possible. Already he has shown me what the possibilities are if we utilize the gas fields we find on top of the petroleum. Even more so if we actively search for them. From what he tells me, in three years, with proper funding and adequate supplies, he can develop a heating system that will run entirely off of a substance he calls propane. Apparently it's cleaner burning and more efficient than that of kerosene or heavy diesel," Lao said.

"Hm. Has he talked to you at all about a more efficient method of transportation than carriage or earth train?" Toph asked.

"Actually, he did mention something that was on the drawing board. He refused to give me any more details until he started work on it," Lao said.

One of the more devious details that Lao failed to mention to his daughter and new business partner was that he had swallowed up the Mechanist's research company. It was now the official R&D department of BFOC.

The Mechanist had always provided excellent services, and so Lao Bei Fong had no issue signing checks for expensive research projects. The flyers he'd invented at the Northern Air Temple were selling like hot tea on the open market. Corporations were a wonderful thing.

The public had no idea how much of a monopoly Lao really had on the market. BFOC had majority control of the newest substance on the market, and the Bei Fong Conglomerate already controlled forty five percent of the commerce inside the borders of the Earth Kingdom.

Getting that kind of market share outside however, was an entirely different animal.

But that was for another day, another business. Back to the matter at hand.

"Well, whatever it is, tell him to make sure it's durable. Those flyers are nice, but some people think they're too rickety once airborne," Toph said.

"Really? I hadn't heard that complaint. Thank you for bringing it to my attention Toph. I'll have someone inform him immediately," Lao said. To be fair, the less solidly built those things were, the better. If they were built like a tank, they would fly like one.

Lao looked out the window at his massive construction project. He had staked a significant portion of his personal fortune in it, not to mention some of his company's assets. Loans and investments weren't hard to come by after the demonstration in Ba Sing Se two months ago, and soon all kinds of materials were heading towards the construction site…not to mention all kinds of workers. Lao thought he'd hired the most professional workers in the world…well…perhaps. To a point. A rough one.

"Jaiden, can you believe this bullshit? Sixteen hour shifts…you gotta be fucking kidding me!" Jairo Sipes yelled to his friend Jaiden Nee.

"Jairo, it sucks…but think about it! We're getting paid all this week to listen to how to do this project…all eight months of work. Bet you three cans it changes halfway through the project."

"Straight or apple?"

"Straight."

"You're on."

Jaiden Nee and Jairo Sipes had met fifteen years ago in the small Earth Kingdom town of Dalian. Bonded by a common love of how things worked, they'd joined the town's pipefitter guild at the ages of 18 and 23, respectively. And both had the new kid assigned to their crew.

Jairo was foreman for his crew, which was tasked with making sure 16 miles of pipe got fitted properly in only 8 weeks. Luckily, Jairo handpicked his crew with the exception of one…

Sokka.

Being foreman, Jairo was privy to some information the rest of the crew wasn't. Sokka wasn't the strongest wrench, nor the shiniest pipe. But he had streaks of ingenuity that astounded even Lao Bei Fong, and that was why instead of a Labe, Sokka was hired on as a pipefitter. Lao requested he be sent to Jairo's crew to learn the ropes.

Jairo decided to give the new kid a proper indoctrination of what it took, in his eyes at least, to be a pipefitter.

"Sokka, welcome to the crew. I'm Jairo, that's Jaiden, over there's Jax, Abel, and there's Danno, and…that's all the guys I can see right now. I'm the foreman, Jaiden is essentially vice foreman. Grab some tools from one of the wagons, get your gear ready. We'll give you a tour. Want a dip?" Jairo said.

"A what?" Sokka asked, oblivious to what Jairo was about to hook him on.

Pulling out a can of the Earth Kingdom's finest, Ba Sing Straight, he packed it, and pulled out a good pinch.

"Dip. Tobacco. It's a real man's treat. Puts hair on your chest," Jairo said with considerable mirth.

"Um…sure."

"Don't take too much at first, or you'll get sick," Jaiden said, walking up to Sokka.

"Why's that?" Sokka asked.

"Haha…just trust me kid. Put it in your lip, and remember to spit, don't swallow."

"Okay. I'm Sokka by the way. I'll try not to get in your guy's way," Sokka said meekly. Already they were confusing him it seemed, and they hadn't even started work yet.

"We know kid. And we expect you to get in our way. Came down straight from the top. You came highly recommended. As long as you work kid, you're one of us," Jairo said. He could tell this was going to be fun.

"Anyways, put your dip in, get some tools, we'll show you around the worksite. We ain't startin' shit for about a week. They're briefing everyone and letting us get acquainted with the site. We're responsible for 16 miles of pipe in 8 weeks. We got about 200 guys working on that shit though, so it should run pretty smooth, assuming that the usual don't happen," Jairo said.

"What's the usual?" Sokka asked.

"Haha…you'll learn. Get your tools and some work clothes. That little warrior outfit ain't no good out here on the job," Jaiden said.

"Alright. Where's the tool wagon?" Sokka asked, walking away from the two men who would operate his life over the next two months.

"Bout twenty feet away from the snack shack. Can't miss it," Jairo said.

"WE GET FOOD? AWESOME! They have meat, right?" Sokka asked, panting.

"Of course kid. We're fucking pipefitters. Not some goddamn candy ass exec faggot who's never done a day of work in his life," Jairo said.

Walking towards the tool wagon, Sokka wondered about how much fun it would be to work on a real job site. Being a warrior was fun, but this was a world Sokka had never thought about before the job opened up.

Jaiden was right though. Dip made him queasy. He threw up after about five minutes.

What a way to start.

A/N: Very sorry about the fantastically overdue second chapter. Between working on the pipeline and joining the Marine Corps, it's been a real bitch to find time to write. Anyways, for all ten people who decide to read this, this story is going somewhere. Just give it time. And would it hurt to leave a review? At the very least some constructive criticism? In short, thanks for reading, and I'll try to get a regular update schedule going. Until next time...


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